Come back

* Data till before Sourav’s finals four tests series against Australia

Sourav Ganguly’s last 9 innings just before his final series against Australia

Sourav’s Vital stat – after his royal  comeback ( Till before last series against Australia)

Source: cricinfo

Mother of all comebacks: Sourav Ganguly in test Series after comeback in 2006

I bounce back again and again

SA test series in 2006-07 -away
214 runs at an avg. of 42 played a fabulous knock of 51 not out 66 and 46 in extreme stress after a long hiatus. Arguably his first knock of 51* after comeback at SA soil is touted as one of the best under extreme odd factors.

Bangladesh test Series 2007 – away

He scored a fine century at Chittagong, though in next two innings he scored 15 and 13 respectively. Overall a decent performance

England series in 2007-Away

The good form continued - always got a good starts and scored 249 at an avg. of 50.There was a match winning knock of 79 in Trent Bridge and a brilliant 57 at oval and also good knocks of 34, 37, and 40. Some of the umpire decisions went against him – Over all a good series.

Pakistan series in 2007 –Home

It was perhaps one of the best in his career. Delhi test he scored 48 in second innings. Kolkata test will remain always special in his memory since he made his maiden test century 102 at Eden. In the second innings he just missed half century (46). Bangalore test put him in same pedestal of great test players with his 239 first innings and 91 in the second. His 239 will be remembered as a symbol of fight back - 534 run at an avg. of 89.

Australia Series in 2007-08- Away

In first two test did scored well, a decent start to the tour by scoring 40 43, 51, 67 in first 4 innings of test series. He failed in last 2 tests where at Perth he had to bat with high fever and in the last test he was given out wrongly. Overall scored 235 runs at an avg of 30

SA Series in 2008 –Home

It was again Dada’s series when he scored a match winning 87 in Kanpur and a fighting match saving 87 at Ahmedabad - overall test scored 211 runs at an avg of 53

Sri Lanka series 2008 -Away
Sourav failed miserably there and Muralidharan became his nemesis.in six innings he scored 96 with an abysmal average of 16.But Sachin and Rahul also performed equally bad with total score of 95 and 148 respectively.

                  Mat Inns NO  Runs HS   Ave        SR       100  50   0   4s  6s
Year 2007 10   19     1   1106 239 61.44    62.59       3     4    0 137   9
Year 2008 9    17      1      459 87   28.68   59.68       0     4    3  54    4

You couldn’t write me off so easily

Welovesourav.com comment

Neville cardus called the scorecard a donkey. He turned out to be so true in Sourav Ganguly’s test performance after his bouncing back in Dec 2006 at SA.
From Potchestroom, through his gritty knock (86) at practice match against SA, he lifted the morale of otherwise lackluster Indian team which was down and out before test due to a clean 4-0 ODI was by Proteans.
 His stupendous knock of unbeaten half century against SA in first test led India eventually to test victory.

The same saga continued in English soil when his some valuable knocks at middle order ensured the solid position and subsequent series win in England.
Back home against arch rival Pakistan, He was perhaps his best test form ever and single handedly thrashed Pakistan. It was a series where entire cricket world saw the revival of all rounder Sourav.

In Ausie land, he not only played his 100th test, in first two tests his determined batting infused the confidence in entire team. Had Sourav been not given the notorious out by Benson (or by Ponting ?!) at 51, the series result could have been different. Eventually India made 1-1 at the series and Sourav’s contribution was seminal.
Back home, he was a face saver against SA. His two brilliant knocks of 87 should be remembered in gold. His 87 in Kanpur even was compared with famous 96 of Sunny at Bangalore.

But nothing was important to the selectors it seems since in a first instance when he performed badly in a series against Sri Lanka, the guillotine came down on him. Though other like Tendulkar , Dravid and Kumble himself did not add any value in their reputation.
But that’s what Indian cricket. For any things and everything Sourav Ganguly is the first victim !
Performance does not count, only games people play that matters…..

The prince….The warrior

Rise of a Phoenix – 2007 Belongs to Sourav Ganguly
Most Runs: 2007 - Test matches

Matches are credited to the year they start in and no special account is taken of matches that overlap years

Most runs

2007 - One-Day Internationals

Matches are credited to the year they start in and no special account is taken of matches that overlap years
Records includes the following current or recent matches:
New Zealand v Bangladesh at Queenstown, 3rd ODI, Dec 31, 2007 [ODI # 2660]
New Zealand v Bangladesh at Napier, 2nd ODI, Dec 28, 2007 [ODI # 2659]
New Zealand v Bangladesh at Auckland, 1st ODI, Dec 26, 2007 [ODI # 2658]

King of spin

Ganguly penchant for slow bowling, especially of the left-arm variety, is well known, and the table below bears out just how good a player of spinners he was. He averaged more than 48 against them in Tests since 2002, and almost 65 against left-armers. That figure would have been even higher had Brad Hogg not dismissed him four times when India toured Australia in 2007-08.

Partners in run-making

In his first Test, Ganguly stitched together partnerships of 64 and 94 with Tendulkar and Dravid, and these two batsmen remained his most prolific partners. Of the 38 century partnerships he was involved in, 21 came with either Tendulkar or Dravid.

The story is similar in ODIs, though the numbers are even more impressive. The average partnership with Dravid was slightly higher, but with Tendulkar he amassed 8227 runs, which is easily a record for most runs by a pair. For the first wicket the two added 6609 runs, another record.

*data needs further updates.

Rare record in retirement

Rarely does a batsman go out of international cricket with a golden duck to his name. Here are some of the finest batsmen from over the years who suffered the same fate as  Sourav Ganguly:-